Juan Antonio Siles

Juan Antonio Siles (14 February 1830-6 August 1912) was the caudillo of the Bolivian State from 1890 to 1899. Siles, a general during the War of the Pacific, seized power in Bolivia as a Nationalist Party of Bolivia member, reigning as caudillo until Chile occupied Bolivia in 1899.

Biography
Juan Antonio Siles was born in Chuquisaca, Bolivia on 14 February 1830 to a criollo family, and he enlisted in the military at a young age. Siles was a veteran of numerous territorial conflicts, fighting against nations such as Peru and Argentina for control of contested border regions. Siles also fought in the War of the Pacific against Chile, and he was defeated by the Chilean general Patricio Arteaga at Chuquisaca in 1879. Siles would become the leader of the saber-rattling reactionary faction of the military during the 1880s, and he led the nationalist faction in a coup around 1890, seizing power. Siles became the caudillo of the authoritarian Bolivian State, which was a monarchy led by an absolute ruler, Siles himself. Siles' government was completely dominated by his reactionary faction, with a conservative faction gaining 20% of upper house seats every time that a reform was passed, only to lose their seats to reactionaries when the new upper house was assembled at the start of each year. Siles' dictatorial regime allowed for the Quechua and South Andean farmers of Santa Cruz province to starve, but 49.9% of the population was focused on jingoism, the primary issue pressed forwards by Siles' nationalist faction. In 1899, the Chilean government, itself ruled by a reactionary officer corps, decided to invade Bolivia and occupy it under the pretext of ensuring that Bolivia was abiding by its 1884 peace treaty with Chile. In the ensuing War of the Bolivian State, Siles was forced to accept the Chilean occupation of his country, and he was forced to flee into exile in Quito, Ecuador, where he died in 1912.